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Michael Adams wins his ninth British Chess Championship title

10 Aug, 2025by gprevenasΣκακιστικά νέα

The 2025 British Chess Championships took place August 02 – August 10 in St Georges Hall, Liverpool, England. The tournament was separated in 9 categories – Championship, Major Open, Over 65, Over 50, Under 16, Under 14, Under 12, Under 10 and Under 08. It was one of the major tournaments of The European Chess Calendar, which is part of The Chess Calendar.

Michael Adams Claims Ninth British Chess Championship Title in Thrilling Playoff

Liverpool, August 11, 2025 – Michael Adams, the 53-year-old Cornish grandmaster nicknamed “The Spider,” secured his ninth British Chess Championship title on Sunday at the 111th British Chess Championships, held in Liverpool’s iconic St George’s Hall. Adams triumphed in a dramatic three-way rapidplay tiebreaker against International Master Peter Roberson and Grandmaster Stuart Conquest, the 2008 champion, after all three tied with 7/9 in the nine-round championship.

Adams, who led throughout the tournament, took home £5,000 and the prestigious British Crown Trophy, which he first won in 1989. He now trails only Jonathan Penrose, with 10 titles between 1958 and 1969, on the all-time list of British champions.

“Another brilliant win for the Cornish sensation,” said Grandmaster Danny Gormally, the English Chess Federation’s expert commentator. “An unbelievable score!”

Women’s Championship

In the women’s event, Women’s Grandmasters (WGM) Lan Yao and Elmira Mirzoeva were crowned joint 2025 British Women’s Champions, finishing level on 6/9. Lan secured her fourth consecutive title, while Mirzoeva celebrated her first.

Playoff Drama

The championship culminated in a tense final round, with six players tied on 6/8. Roberson defeated International Master Richard Pert, while Adams clinched his spot in the playoff with a trademark grinding victory over Polish International Master Maciej Czopor. Conquest, aged 58 and nicknamed “The Fox,” secured his place by stunning England’s top-ranked player, Grandmaster Nikita Vitiugov.

The playoff format saw Roberson and Conquest face off in two 10+5 games, with Conquest emerging victorious 2-0. However, in the final playoff, Adams proved too strong, defeating Conquest to claim the 2025 title.

Notable Performances

  • Bodhana Sivanandan, a 10-year-old prodigy, secured her final Women’s International Master (WIM) norm with a stunning comeback victory against Grandmaster Peter Wells. Gormally remarked, “How on earth did she win this? She must be some kind of magician!”
  • Supratit Banerjee, an 11-year-old talent, earned his first International Master (IM) norm, defeating two grandmasters and finishing on 6/9. Gormally tipped him as a future British champion.
  • William Claridge-Hansen also secured an IM norm.
  • Shreyas Royal, England’s youngest-ever grandmaster at 16, challenged until a round-eight loss to Conquest. Despite a final-round defeat to 22-year-old International Master Jonah Willow, Royal’s performance signaled his bright future.
  • Defending champion Gawain Jones scored 6.5/9 but admitted he “wasn’t quite firing” during the event.

Tournament Highlights

Over 1,000 players, including Britain’s top grandmasters and rising prodigies, competed in Liverpool across nine days of tournaments and chess events. The elite nine-round Swiss championship showcased intense competition, with six players in contention for the title in the final round.

Grandmaster Danny Gormally praised the performances of young stars, particularly Sivanandan and Banerjee, while noting Vitiugov’s potential: “I don’t think we’ve seen the best yet of Vitiugov, I’m pretty certain of that. He will win national titles, there’s no question about it.”

Looking Ahead

The 2026 British Chess Championships, including age-group events from under-8 to seniors, will be held at the University of Warwick in Coventry, as announced by the English Chess Federation. The event will mark the 112th championship in a series running almost unbroken since 1904.

About the English Chess Federation

The English Chess Federation (ECF) is the governing chess organization in England, affiliated with FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs). Its mission is to promote chess as a cultural and personal advancement tool while fostering excellence and expanding the game as a social and sporting activity.

Article by
Leon Watson
English Chess Federation


British Chess Championship final standings


1 GM Adams, Michael ENG 2663 7
2 GM Conquest, Stuart C ENG 2511 7
3 IM Roberson, Peter T ENG 2440 7
4 GM Maroroa Jones, Gawain ENG 2651 6.5
5 IM Bazakutsa, Svyatoslav UKR 2481 6.5
6 IM Willow, Jonah B ENG 2459 6.5
7 GM Vitiugov, Nikita ENG 2676 6
8 GM Ghasi, Ameet K ENG 2501 6
9 GM Wadsworth, Matthew J ENG 2483 6
10 GM Gordon, Stephen J ENG 2469 6
11 IM Czopor, Maciej POL 2434 6
12 IM Mahadevan, Siva IND 2416 6
13 IM Pert, Richard G ENG 2409 6
14 IM Makkar, Rajat FRA 2406 6
15 GM Flear, Glenn C ENG 2358 6
16 FM Banerjee, Supratit ENG 2242 6
17 GM Fernandez, Daniel H ENG 2500 5.5
18 GM Royal, Shreyas ENG 2495 5.5
19 IM Harvey, Marcus R ENG 2439 5.5
20 IM Han, Yichen NED 2430 5.5
21 IM Kanyamarala, Tarun IRL 2397 5.5
22 FM Claridge-Hansen, William ENG 2364 5.5
23 FM Kalavannan, Koby ENG 2323 5.5
24 WGM Yao, Lan ENG 2316 5.5
25 WGM Mirzoeva, Elmira ENG 2282 5.5
26 IM Clarke, Brandon Gi ENG 2491 5
27 GM Williams, Simon K ENG 2444 5
28 IM Zhou, Yang-Fan ENG 2406 5
29 FM Waldhausen Gordon, Frederick SCO 2393 5
30 IM Eggleston, David J ENG 2348 5
31 GM Hebden, Mark L ENG 2347 5
32 FM Fava, Lorenzo ITA 2318 5
33 FM Vijayakumar, Rishi SCO 2310 5
34 FM Badacsonyi, Stanley ENG 2309 5
35 Boswell, Jacob Connor ENG 2278 5
36 FM Pert, Max P ENG 2263 5
37 IM Rudd, Jack ENG 2259 5
38 FM Dickenson, Neil F ENG 2247 5
39 WFM Sivanandan, Bodhana ENG 2216 5
40 FM Badacsonyi, Frankie ENG 2193 5
41 Jones, Steven A ENG 2185 5
42 Adams, Henry ENG 2114 5
43 Stoica, Savas Marin ENG 2092 5
44 Liu, Jack ENG 2071 5
45 WFM Dicen, Elis Denele ENG 2069 5
46 IM Ledger, Andrew J ENG 2323 4.5
47 GM Davies, Nigel R ENG 2291 4.5
48 CM Shearsby, Jude ENG 2270 4.5
49 FM Richardson, John R ENG 2246 4.5
50 CM Khoury, Theo ENG 2239 4.5
51 CM Yoon, Jacob D ENG 2203 4.5
52 Kovalskyi, Roman UKR 2180 4.5
53 Dasgupta, Avyukt ENG 2158 4.5
54 CM Fellowes, Billy ENG 2122 4.5
55 Yu, Rock ENG 2107 4.5
56 WFM Kueh, Audrey ENG 2071 4.5
57 GM Wells, Peter K ENG 2339 4
58 IM Hunt, Harriet V ENG 2294 4
59 FM Webb, Laurence E ENG 2268 4
60 FM Dishman, Stephen ENG 2254 4
61 CM Jackson, Edward ENG 2194 4
62 CM Murawski, Jan ENG 2189 4
63 CM Chopra, Manmay IND 2188 4
64 Shafi, Declan SCO 2183 4
65 FM Eames, Robert S ENG 2136 4
66 Vaidyanathan, Adithya ENG 2115 4
67 Malinovskii, Ilia ENG 2075 4
68 Ashworth, Michael J ENG 2053 4
69 Patel, Zain ENG 2048 4
70 Verbytski, Oleg ENG 2001 4
71 Deepak Ambattu, Rithvik SCO 1990 4
72 Price, Gwilym T ENG 2186 3.5
73 FM Ledger, Dave J ENG 2161 3.5
74 IM Bradbury, Neil H ENG 2137 3.5
75 WFM Weersing, Abigail R ENG 2056 3.5
76 NM Sedykh, Mikhail ENG 2159 3
77 NM Brewer, Callum D ENG 2152 3
78 Chan, Sheng Liang Bernard MAS 2098 3
79 WFM Hryshchenko, Kamila ENG 2097 3
80 Honey, Luke ENG 2082 3
81 Pereslavtsev, Alexandr ENG 2079 3
82 Bharat Kumar, Balahari ENG 2052 3
83 Harborne, Matthew J ENG 2048 3
84 WFM Strade, Arita GCI 1971 3
85 Korsinskij, Marek CZE 1727 3
86 IM Golding, Alex ENG 2377 2.5
87 WIM Kanyamarala, Trisha IRL 2178 2.5
88 Crawford, Owen ENG 2125 2.5
89 Lebedev, Lion ENG 2048 2.5
90 Gunarathne, Senith ENG 1918 2.5
91 WCM Nevska, Gerda GCI 1799 2.5
92 FM Hobson, Kenneth ENG 2361 2
93 CM Stubbs, Oliver ENG 2191 2
94 Golding, James ENG 2176 1.5
95 Carpenter, Paul A JCI 1922 1.5
96 WCM Ashbrooke, Monika JCI 1591 1.5
97 FM Derakhshani, Borna ENG 2348 1
98 Turner, Lewis A ENG 1965 1
99 FM Chopra, Tanmay IND 2357 0.5
100 Jukes, Sam WLS 1972 0.5